COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
This Belgian-Style Ale has been matured in American and French oak red wine barrels for a year to add layers of complexity to its rich flavor profile of dark fruit and Belgian caramel malts. The oak and red wine flavors imparted by the barrel-aging process blend seamlessly with subtle hints of raisin, plum, and bittersweet chocolate from the beer. Enjoy now or continue to age in a cool, dark place.

750ml black foiled bottle pours with a brown-amber-mahogany colored body that supports a very short lived assembly of tan bubbles. The aroma offers brown sugar, figs and dates and then it gets pretty boozy with a dash of molasses. The taste starts with some mild tartness that has a fig sweetened red wine sensation moving sluggishly into brown sugar and molasses. The muted red wine bubbles to the surface midway and into the finish.

750 ml bottle shared by Jstax at Natifest (from notes). Pours a clear reddish caramel brown color with a small sized beige head that doesn’t last long. The aroma has a nice Belgian yeast character, chocolate, vanilla, raisins and other dark fruits, wood with a bunch of vinous character added from the barrel. The flavor is much of the same, the barrel is very noticeable again, but adds some caramel and yeasty bread. There is a nice tangy bite at the beginning that moves into a smooth tasty finish. Glad to have tried this.

Bottle from Phil as part of the 12K joint tasting. Light mahogany with beige head. Raisin, apple, belgian yeast, tannin, caramel, mellows as it warms up, fairly malty, oak, moderate carbonation and body, not sure it all works together but as it warms up it works a little better, alcohol warms you up.

Bottle: Poured an hazy amber color ale with a medium off-white head. Aroma of sweet malt with some residual sugar, some caramel and light dry fruit notes. Taste is also a well balanced mix between some sweet malt with caramel malt and light dry fruit notes. Body is quite full with good carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Enjoyable but not as complex as I was hoping and barrel was not as apparent as I would have expected.

Sample from 2012 batch at Denver Rare Beer Tasting VI on 10/03/2014. Pours a slightly hazy reddish-amber color with a medium off-white head that diminishes steadily to an outer ring. Partial rings of lace. Aroma of oak, dark fruit and malt. Full-bodied with flavors of vinous oak, caramel malt and earthy yeast. The finish is oaky with a dark fruit aftertaste. Pretty good overall.

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